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Chevrolet Corvette

The Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car first manufactured by Chevrolet in 1953 and is built today exclusively at a General Motors assembly plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was the first all-American sports car built by an American car manufacturer.

Initial history

While the style of a car may be just as important to some as to how well the car runs, automobile manufacturers did not begin to pay attention to car designs until the 1920s. It was not until 1927, when General Motors hired designer Harley Earl that automotive styling and design became important to American automobile manufacturers. What Henry Ford did for automobile manufacturing principles, Harley Earl did for car design. Most of GM's flamboyant "dream car" designs of the 1950s are directly attributable to Earl, leading one journalist to comment that the designs were "the American psyche made visible." Harley Earl loved sports cars, and GIs returning after serving overseas World War II were bringing home MGs, Jaguars, Alfa Romeos and the like. Earl convinced GM that they needed to build a two-seat sports car. The result was the 1953 Corvette, unveiled to the public at that year's Motorama car show.

Taking its name from a small, maneuverable fighting frigate, the first Corvettes were virtually handbuilt in Flint, Michigan in Chevrolet's Customer Delivery Center. The outer body was made out of a revolutionary new composite material called fiberglass, offering the strength of steel without the weight. The tradition continues even today, as no Corvette has ever had anything other than a fiberglass outer skin. Underneath that radical new body were standard Chevrolet components, including the "Blue Flame" inline six-cylinder engine, two-speed Powerglide automatic transmission and drum brakes from Chevrolet's regular car line. Though the engine's output was increased somewhat thanks to a triple-carburetor intake exclusive to the Corvette, performance of the car was decidedly lackluster. Compared to the Ford Thunderbird with its 312 in³ (5.1 L) V8 and British and Italian sports cars of the day, the Corvette was underpowered, required a great deal of effort as well as clear roadway to bring to a stop and even lacked a "proper" manual transmission. Up until that time, the Chevrolet Division was GM's entry-level marque, known for excellent but no-nonsense cars...and nowhere was that more evident than in the Corvette. A Paxton supercharger became available as a dealer-installed option in 1954 which greatly improved the Corvette's straight-line performance, but sales continued to decline. GM was seriously considering shelving the project, thereby leaving the Corvette as little more than a footnote in automotive history, and would have done so if not for two important events. The first was the introduction of Chevrolet's first-ever V8 engine in 1955, and the second was the influence of a Soviet emigre in GM's engineering department, Zora Arkus-Duntov. Arkus-Duntov simply took a 283 in³ (4.6 L) version of the new engine and backed it with a four-speed manual transmission. That modification, probably the single most important in the car's history, helped to turn the Corvette from a two-seat curiosity to a genuine sports car and Thunderbird contender. It also earned Arkus-Duntov the rather inaccurate nickname of "Father of the Corvette."

C1

There have been five generations of the Corvette so far, generally referred to as versions C1 through C5. The first generation started in 1953 and ended in 1962, with the noteworthy addition of optional fuel injection in 1957. This new induction system first saw regular use on a gasoline engine two years prior on the Mercedes-Benz 300SL "Gullwing" roadster. Although the Corvette's GM-Rochester fuel injection system used a single central plunger to feed fuel to all eight cylinders in comparison to a more direct means of delivery with a single plunger for each of the Mercedes' six cylinders, the system nevertheless produced 283 horsepower (211 kW) from 283 in³ (4.6 L), making it the first production engine in history to exceed 1 hp/in³ (45.5 kW/L).

C2

The second generation, now under the styling direction of Bill Mitchell started in 1963 and ended in 1967. 1963 would see the introduction of the new Corvette Stingray with its distinctive split rear window (discontinued for 1964 over safety concerns) as well as an independent rear suspension and four-wheel disc brakes.

The first "big-block" Corvette appeared in 1965. With 396 in³ (6.5 L) under the fiberglass hood, the Corvette now became a contender in the burgeoning muscle car wars of the period. Chevrolet would up the ante in 1966 with the introduction of an even larger 427 in³ (7 L) version, creating what would be one of the most collectable Corvettes ever.

C3

The third generation, patterened after Chevrolet's "Mako Shark" show car started in 1968 and ended in 1982. This generation has the distinction of being introduced to the motoring public in an unorthodox - and unintentional - fashion. Nineteen-sixty-eight also marked the introduction of the Mattel's now-famous Hot Wheels line of 1/64-scale diecast toy cars. General Motors tried their best to keep the appearance of the upcoming car a secret, but the release of the Hot Wheels line several weeks before the Corvette's unveiling had a certain version of particular interest to Corvette fans: The "Custom Corvette," a GM-authorized model of the 1968 Corvette.

C4

The fourth generation was introduced at the close of 1982 production as a 1984 model and ended in 1996, meaning that there's no such thing as a "1983 Corvette." In 1990, the Corvette ZR-1 was introduced as a limited-production, high-performance version of the standard Corvette, which contained a 32-valve overhead cam engine designed by Lotus Engineering and built by Mercury Marine. One of the fastest street cars ever built up to that time, the final year of ZR-1 production was 1995.

The C4 corvette is known for its boxy look and its square taillights. In the coupe it also is the first corvette to have a glass hatchback for better storage access. It also had all new brakes with aluminum calipers. The Corvette C4 came standard with an electronic dashboard with digital liquid crystal displays for speed and RPM. The C4 was a complete redesign of the previous generation and the emphasis was on handling. The C4 corvette was proclaimed the best handling car ever when it was released. This handling came at the expense of a stiff, unforgiving ride. The unit-body frame used in the C4 was also prone to rattles and squeaks due to frame flexing. Also due to the external unit body frame the door sills were quite deep and entry and exit were impeded.

C4 Links

C5

The fifth generation started in 1997 and will end with the 2004 model year. The C5 was a radical change from the previous generation. The car now had a hydroformed box frame, and the transmission was moved to the rear of the car and was connected to the engine via a torque tube. Gone were the squeaks and rattles of the C4 and in replacement was an incredibly strong frame that would last for at least two more generations. The new C5 was better in every aspect then the C4 it replaced. A successor to the ZR-1 made its debut in 2001 and was called the Z06. But insted of a heavy double-overhead cam engine like the ZR-1, there was a high-output (LS6) version of the conventional Corvette V8 (LS1). This engine produced 385 horsepower (287 kW) which was not much more then the old ZR-1, but since it was much lighter, it was a much faster car. For 2002 onward, the Z06 produced 405 horsepower (302 kW). The Z06 also came with side mounted brake ducts, and a 500 rpm raised red-line(6500 rpm).

The Corvette's 50th Anniversary was celebrated June 20th and 21st, 2003 in Nashville, Tennessee. The venue provided a bonanza of flawlessly restored Corvettes, a chronological display set up by the National Corvette Museum with every model year of the Corvette along with engineering and restoration seminars. The anniversary also brought some Chevrolet Concept Vehicles into focus including the approved-for-production Chevrolet SS-R, a combination pickup truck and roadster featuring styling cues from Chevrolet trucks of the late 1940s and early 1950s. Also on hand were several Corvette race cars, including the Corvette SS built by Zora Arkus-Duntov and the C5R that won at LeMans. Among the many displays were examples of the 2003 50th Anniversary Edition as well as a few 2004 "Commemorative Edition" Corvettes.

Recently, the factory has expanded to build the Cadillac XLR roadster, which shares its platform with the sixth-generation Corvette. Bowling Green is also home to the aforementioned Corvette Museum, which celebrates this American automotive icon by displaying in chronological order the various regular production models as well as some unique one-off versions created by Chevrolet. The building in Flint in which the first cars were assembled was spun off with GM's Delphi Electronics division and later donated to GMI/Kettering University in the late 1990s. The building has since been remodeled, and is now the C.S. Mott Engineering and Chemistry Center. In the garage housing the school's Pontiac Firebird club is a plaque commemerating it as the place where the first Corvette was built.

C5-R

The C5-R was a racecar built by GM Racing. It was based on the C5 road car but had an enlarged V8 and different bodywork with exposed headlamps. It is raced in the American Le Mans Series in the GTS Class and has been to four 24 Hours of Le Mans races.

2001

The car's remarkable 2001 racing season featured eight victories in 10 races, including an overall win in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and 1-2 finish in GTS class in the 24 Hours of LeMans. The Le Mans wins sparked off a rivalry with Prodrive's Ferrari 550 Maranellos, and both teams have become fan favorites.

2002

In 2002, the C5-R repeated its 1-2 victory at LeMans, and also dominated the GTS class in the American LeMans Series. In 2002 a new transaxle unit was used instead of the previous years separate transmission and differential.

2003

In 2003 there were additional restrictions placed on the C5-R so as to limit horsepower. In the 2003 season opening Sebring 12 Hours race, the C5-Rs stayed on winning form, with one of them finishing first in class and eighth overall. Also in 2003 the yellow paint job was dropped in favor of a special Red, White, and Blue paint job to commemerate the Corvette's 50th Anniversary. However, at Le-Mans, the Prodrive Ferraris spoiled the anniversary and a three-times in a row victory by winning the GTS class.

2004

In 2004 the yellow paint was back and after being beaten by the Ferrari 550's at Le-Mans in the previous year, the Corvette returned for another 1-2 finish.

C6

The sixth generation Corvette does not change as much as the previous generation Corvette did. The design engineers tried to perfect, not reinvent, even if it's still as challenging to drive in town (cornering for example), on bad roads and in the rain.

The new C6 gets an overhaul of the suspension geometry, all new bodywork with exposed headlamps, a larger passenger compartment, a larger 6.0 liter engine, and a much higher level of refinement. Overall, it's 5.1 inches (13 cm) shorter then the C5, but it's wheelbase has increased by 1.2 inches (3 cm). It's also one inch (2.5 cm) narrower making a smaller, sportier Corvette. The reduced dimensions were in response to critisism that the C5 Corvette looked too wide, the new body give the impression of a much sleeker, faster car. Chevrolet hopes the new design will attract buyers of comprable European sports cars like the Porsche 911, but some purists dislike the new styling. The new 6.0 Liter LS2 V8 produces 400hp at 6000 rpm and 400 lb-ft of torque at 4400 rpm. Its red-line is increased to 6500 rpm like the C5 Z06.

The new Z06 is stated to be coming in 2006, and will have a 500 hp engine. Dave Hill, the chief engineer for the C6 corvette, says that it will be a much further departure from the regular car and be more like the C6-R that they are building for the 24 hours of Le Mans.

Oldest surviving unit

The oldest surviving production Corvette is serial number EF53001003. This historic, one-time GM "test mule" is the third 1953 Corvette to ever come off the Flint assembly line and is known as "double-oh-three" to Corvette enthusiasts. See the link below for more details.